Diamon Simpson (born September 8, 1987) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for

Dorados de Chihuahua Dorados de Chihuahua (English: Chihuahua Goldens) are a refounded baseball team from the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Chihuahua. Recently, the Tuneros de San Luis moved to Chihuahua and took the Dorados namesake, which also brought the LMB (AAA ...

of the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP) is the top professional basketball league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 10 teams. Despite its short history, the LNBP has established itself as the one of the most important ...

(LNBP). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the Saint Mary's College before playing professionally in the NBA D League, the Philippines, Turkey, Australia, Israel, Spain, Czech Republic and Venezuela.

Early life

Born in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

, Simpson grew up in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

city of Hayward, and graduated from Hayward High School in 2005.

College

Simpson attended the

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic Church, Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college of ...

and played for the

Saint Mary's Gaels The Saint Mary's Gaels are the athletic teams that compete at Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California. The nickname applies to the college's intercollegiate NCAA Division I teams and to the school's club sports teams. Most varsit ...

in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

(WCC) between 2005 and when he graduated in 2009. He was a teammate of Australian and

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

backup

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

Patrick Mills Patrick Sammy Mills (born 11 August 1988) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Mills was born and raised in Canberra, and is of Torres Strait Islander and Aborigina ...

when playing for the Gaels from 2007–2009. Over his 4 seasons with the Gaels the 6'7" (201 cm) Simpson played 128 games averaging 12.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. His career field goal percentage of 50.6% is currently 23rd on the all-time list for the WCC while his 1130 rebounds a Gaels record and all time 2nd in the WCC and 20th in the NCAA. Simpson is the Saint Mary's Gaels all-time leading rebounder (1130), shot blocker (239), he leads in steals (174) and free throws made and attempted (470/777 at 60.5%).

Professional career

NBA D-League (2009–2010)

After graduating from Saint Mary's, Simpson started 2009 by attending the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

training camp but was unable to secure a spot on the Warriors roster. From there he signed to play for the

Los Angeles D-Fenders LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...

of the

NBA D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

in 2009–10 where he averaged 15.5 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in his 30 games.

Philippines (2010)

Simpson was bought out of his D-Fenders contract by the Alaska Aces of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA) for the 2010 Fiesta Conference (despite a league rule that import players must be no taller than 198 cm). In his opening game for the Aces, he scored an impressive 36 points and grabbed 25 rebounds. By season's end, he was averaging around 25 points and 16 rebounds a game in a dominant display which made him a favorite of the Aces supporters. Despite not winning the Best Import award, he was able to lead the Aces in winning the championship over 18-time champions

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with the Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra ...

which had returning import

Gabe Freeman Gabriel DeAndre Freeman (born November 5, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Halifax Hurricanes of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). He previously played for the Rochester Razorsharks of the Premier Basket ...

as well as

Dondon Hontiveros Donaldo "Dondon" Cabañes Hontiveros (born June 1, 1977) is a Filipino politician and former professional basketball player. He is a member of the Cebu City Council since June 30, 2022 and previously from 2019 to 2021. He was the Vice Mayor of Ce ...

and Arwind Santos for the locals.

Turkey (2010–2011)

After leaving the Aces Simpson signed with

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

team

Türk Telekom Türk Telekom is a state-owned Turkish telecommunications company. Türk Telekom was separated from Turkish Post (PTT) in 1995. Türk Telekom Group provides integrated telecommunication services for PSTN, GSM, and wide-band Internet. The Türk ...

for part of the 2010–11 Turkish season where he averaged just 7.3 points and 5.8 rebounds and 0.3 blocks per game in four games primarily playing at

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

Australia (2011–2012)

Simpson signed for the Adelaide 36ers after original import John Williamson was ruled out with a knee injury. Simpson joined the 36ers for Round 3 of the 2011-12 NBL season. Throughout the season, he averaged 14.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 27 games. He also posted 12 double-doubles and had five 20-point performances with Adelaide and is widely considered to be easily the best performed of the imports for the 36ers during an era where the club claimed 3 wooden spoons in 4 seasons.

National Basketball Association (2012)

On April 13, 2012, Simpson signed with the Houston Rockets of the NBA for the remainder of the 2011–12 season. He was waived by the Rockets on September 7, 2012, without making an appearance for them.

Spain (2016–17)

On March 1, 2016, Simpson signed with

CB Estudiantes Club Baloncesto Estudiantes, S.A.D., known simply as Estu and as Movistar Estudiantes for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball team based in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is a member of the Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto (ACB). Founded in 19 ...

of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

Israel and Russia (2017-18)

On March 1, 2017, Simpson signed a one-month contract with

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. On April 7, 2017, he was parted ways with Maccabi after appearing in six Euroleague games. On August 26, 2018, Simpson signed with the Russian team

Avtodor Saratov BC Avtodor (russian: БК «Автодор» Саратов), commonly known as simply Avtodor and internationally as Avtodor Saratov, is a Russian professional basketball club based in Saratov. It plays in the FIBA Europe Cup and in the VTB Unit ...

for the 2018–19 season. However, on October 2, 2018, Saratov parted ways with Simpson due to a back injury before appearing in any game for them. On December 22, 2018, Simpson returned to Israel for a fourth stint, signing with Maccabi Rishon LeZion for the rest of the season. On June 10, 2019, Simpson recorded season-highs of 28 point and 20 rebounds, shooting 12-of-17 from the field, leading Rishon LeZion to the Israeli League Final after a 92–86 win over

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's leadi ...

Alaska (2019)

On June 27, 2019, Simpson returned to the Alaska Aces for a third stint, signing for the

2019 PBA Commissioner's Cup The 2019 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup, also known as the 2019 Honda–PBA Commissioner's Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the second conference of the 2019 PBA season. The tournament allows teams to hire foreign pla ...

Israel (2020-present)

On January 7, 2020, Simpson signed with

Ironi Nahariya Ironi Nahariya Basketball Club ( he, מועדון הכדורסל עירוני נהריה; ) known for sponsorship reasons as Ironi Rain Nahariya () is a professional basketball club based in city of Nahariya in northern Israel. The team plays in t ...

for the rest of the season, replacing

Jeff Adrien Jeff Adrien (born February 10, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for San Lorenzo de Almagro of the Liga Nacional de Básquet, Argentina. He formerly served as captain for the University of Connecticut Huskies, where he played as ...

. He subsequently joined

Quimsa Asociación Atlética Quimsa, usually called simply Quimsa, is an Argentine sports club located in the city of Santiago del Estero in the homonymous province. The club's professional basketball team plays in the Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB) ...

of the Argentine Liga Nacional de Basquetbol, averaging 11.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. In 2021, Simpson signed with

Plateros de Fresnillo Plateros de Fresnillo (English: ''Fresnillo Silversmiths'') is a professional Mexican basketball team, based in Fresnillo. The Plateros are part Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, the top professional basketball league in Mexico. The team pla ...

of the

and averaged 9.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. On November 30, 2021, he signed with Maccabi Rishon LeZion.

The Basketball Tournament

Simpson played for Team Gael Force in the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

edition of

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

. Team Gael Force made it to the Super 16 before falling to eventual tournament runner-up Eberlein Drive.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

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References

External links